For those believing in the power of energy and vibrations both good and bad, clutter they say can impact a home with negative energy. That may lead to various problems like stress, tension and anxiety. But regardless of this, clutter certainly makes your home look untidy and an eyesore.
Clutter can be called so many things. The most basic definition of clutter could be an “untidy mass of things lying around”. There are many people or rather most people who like a neat and tidy home but on the other hand, there are quite a few who live in a messy and unkempt environment. How do they do it?
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Clutter just doesn’t work for some who require that meticulous environment to work be it at home or work. Research now shows that clutter can actually impact your mental state of mind and mental stability and is more of a problem than you think.
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Research at the Center of Everyday lives and families at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) found that there is a chemical relationship between clutter, anxiety and, stress. It thus seems that the wellness gurus and Feng Shui experts were right after all. The study observed that women whose homes were cluttered displayed higher than average levels of cortisol which is the stress hormone.
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Another study at Princeton found that when people worked in a cluttered environment, it had negative effects and reduced the ability to focus, concentrate and process information. These in turn lead to stressful conditions.
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Psychologists are now agreeing that clutter is a huge source of anxiety in people. Sherrie Borg Carter a psychologist and writer at Psychology Today agreed that clutter or a messy home and work environment leads to additional stress where clutter itself was a prominent source of stress.
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According to Carter, there are 8 factors that make clutter cause stress. Clutter creates a huge amount of stimuli through sight, sound, touch, smell and taste in the external world. Clutter makes our senses work overtime on the type of stimuli that isn’t important for our productive and developing life.
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Clutter reduces attention span as we cease to focus on goals or immediate tasks. Instead we have to stress ourselves out by focusing on the clutter. Clutter causes huge anxiety in people simply because they can’t seem to figure out where things are. The anxiousness is also in regards to the effort of having to go through the clutter to find things.
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Clutter makes it hard for anyone to relax. This is due to the fact that people then start to think about having to clear the mess up themselves which is taxing on the mind. When the brain registers on clutter, it gets the signal that “work is never done”. Clutter influences our brain to experience a sense of incomplete reality. You could have finished all your work but because of the clutter, something seems always lacking and unfinished.
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Clutter causes different emotions in different people. In those who like seeing things tidy, clutter can make them feel guilty or even embarrassed. Those who do clutter their home are more likely to feel the constant anxiety of the problem.
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Carter says that a non-cluttered environment makes people more productive and creative. On the other hand cluttered spaces prevent a person from being so. Clutter also makes a person agitated and experience feelings of anger and frustration because we can’t find things among the clutter. With clutter, one cannot indulge in brainstorming and problem-solving.
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A cluttered home can me you feel tired because it drains you psychically and visually. Invariably when clutter gets hold of some people who tend to hoard things, although they get fatigued, they just can’t throw things away. This is when you need help.
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Clutter can be overwhelming and make you feel hopeless. A hopeless throw-your-hands- in –the- air feeling takes over as an inevitable feeling. In fact clutter can make you poor. Experts say that the homes of those who are struggling to make ends meet invariably end up being more cluttered than those who are better off. One should get rid of all things that aren’t relevant to your daily needs or life.
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There are many ways you can take back control of your life from clutter. Decluttering shouldn’t be tackled by one person but by the family as a whole. Each person should be responsible for the room they use. Start on one room before going on to the next because seeing a clean room and soaking in the positivity of a clutter-free room is a great motivator. This method helps especially when you are alone to give you a feeling that yes!! You have accomplished something.
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After you declutter your room, you should allot specific spaces for specific objects, items and supplies and keep them organized neatly. When you use particular spaces for items, they should be closed storage spaces like cabinets and drawers. This removes the damaging effects of clutter’s visual stimuli.
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To make cleaning a fun experience, play some cool music while cleaning with friends and family. The cleaning activity becomes a much more enjoyable and bearable experience. Make your family members ware of the dangers of clutter and how it could impact each ones health. Stay free from clutter and be rid of the anxiety associated with it as there are many problems in life you need to attend to. Clutter only makes things worse.
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